Rocos - The Power of Positive Drinking

CONTENTS

Plus, a bonus round, because I believe a day without chocolate is a day wasted:

THE POWER OF POSITIVE DRINKING isnt a guide on how to get drunk. It is a guide to how to drink well and thoroughly enjoy yourself.

Drinking has a bad reputation in some quarters. But thats largely because we dont drink properly, as we have not yet been initiated in the art of drinking well. Most of us know plenty about healthy eating, but next to nothing about healthy drinking.

This is Cleo Rocos master class on how to imbibe successfully, on how to reach that delicious level of intoxication where you and your fellow drinkers blossom into the favourite version of yourselves and stay there. From Rocos we learn how to ensure that every drinking occasion snowballs into a glorious and triumphant event.

Inside these pages lie the secrets of alcohol. The finest hints and tips on stylish drinking gleaned from seasoned and successful drinkers around the globe; failsafe recipes for some of the worlds greatest snifters along with a few of Cleos own specialities, tailored to guarantee a quality night on the tiles. It all comes down to Positive Drinking, and here Rocos spills the beans on how to get up to no good in the best possible way...

Cleos 12 lessons on spirits and other alcoholic tipples includes: Vloddy Marvellous Things about Vodka; No Hangover Cocktails; Skinny Low-Calorie Cocktails; Champagne; Wine; How to Win with Gin; Tuck into Tequila; Avoid Getting Frisky on Whisky; Rum; What to Absolutely Avoid; Essential Hangover Tips; Prehab:The Rehab-Prevention Rules.

Enjoy this book responsibly.

CLEO ROCOS IS the essential ingredient to any party that wants to go with a swing, and has spent a lifetime partying with the best of them, as a host of bon viveurs from Elizabeth Taylor and Princess Diana to Alan Carr and Gore Vidal would attest. She is also an international spirits judge.

When she competed in Britains Best Celebrity Chef in March 2009 she won over the judges and audience with her Mexican cooking and Margaritas. Her love for Mexico and its favourite drink has led to her adoption by the tequila industry, where she has been honoured by its official governing body. 2012 saw her launching her own brand of 100 per cent agave tequila, AquaRiva, with high-profile lifestyle brand partners such as Virgin Atlantic, Waitrose and Sainsburys. Working with a top master blender in Mexico to achieve her exact specifications, it has already won many top international awards, including Best of the Best in the worlds biggest competition held by tequila.net. She has also launched her own award-winning AquaRiva organic agave syrup.

Cleos life has always been something of a party. She was born in Rio de Janeiro to Greek and English parents. After a first job as a professional skateboarder, her career in television and comedy took off when she co-starred in The Kenny Everett Show on BBC1, starting in the 1980s then the number-one rated comedy series in the UK. It ran for eight years, immortalising Everetts infamously zany, anarchic and saucy comedy.

Following her early work in the original Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and as a roving reporter for Thats Life!, she has worked between the UK and the US for a range of broadcasters including the BBC, ITV, Channel Four, Channel Five and NBC, and co-starred with names ranging from Emma Thompson and Rhys Ifans to Roger Daltrey and Leigh Francis.

Cleos one-woman show in Los Angeles was a sell-out hit with star-studded audiences, followed by a one-woman show in Londons Soho. She has also duetted with Marc Almond live at the Royal Albert Hall. Her autobiography Bananas Forever: Kenny and Me, covering her years working with Kenny Everett, was published in 1998.

She produced The Seven Year Itch starring Darryl Hannah at the Queens Theatre in Londons West End, and produced and presented the hit TV series Cleo Worldwide for Channel 5 with guests including Neil Morrissey, Denise van Outen, Terry Venables, Julian Clary, Tessa Dahl, Nicky Haslam and Lord Glenconner. She was also Executive Producer of the Comic Strips film Sex Actually for Channel 4, featuring Rik Mayall and Sheridan Smith.

Cleo starred as herself in Channel 4s Celebrity Big Brother in 2007 alongside Jermaine Jackson and Ken Russell. She has also presented several travel special reports for This Morning, and appeared on Celebrity Come Dine with Me in Autumn 2011.

Cleo Rocos lives in London, the party city of the world.

To my fantastic family who I laugh uncontrollably with and absolutely love. Also to my fabulous friends. All these people magnificently star in the happiest highlights of my life.

For this book, I have taken the precaution, if not indeed the plunge on occasion, to discover the secrets of how to fully enjoy partying and cocktails without experiencing a hangover. It has taken years, but now my friends, I delight in being able to share with you, the key to The Power of Positive Drinking. So here is to grabbing life by the cocktails and feeling fab the next day. Every great moment and celebration most definitely deserves to be remembered with a clear head.

Its always too early to quit.

Norman Vincent Peale, author, The Power of Positive Thinking

Frankly I couldnt agree more, Norman.
Ive been barking for a large one since noon.

Cleo Rocos, author, The Power of Positive Drinking

Men: 34 units per day
Women: 23 units per day

Well, thats the legal bit out of the way. And thats the only talk of units that youll find in this book. Personally, I find them all quite baffling, given that my knowledge of units is restricted to kitchen cupboards. And even I would feel the effect if I were to drink the contents of more than two of those at lunch.

This book is an explanation of mixology, not biology, so I wont accompany each recipe with stern words about the effects on the liver. If you ever perhaps think youre overdoing things a little party-wise, take a look at my Prehab chapter for guidance on throttling back or going alcohol free. Or there are excellent websites about responsible drinking such as www.drinkaware.co.uk.

THIS IS NOT a self-help book. Its more a how to help yourself book. But Ive noticed a lot of those self-help scribes like to look to the spiritual side of life, have a little prayer or mantra or two. So let me do the same: God grant me the wisdom to know the difference between good drinks and bad.

Well, thats the whole point of this book. What I want you to be able to do is drink with maximum enjoyment and minimal grievous bodily harm. None of us want one of those dreadful hangovers where you wake up the next day and feel like a Krispy Kreme doughnut gooey in the middle with crispy bits flaking off our outsides.

So, with my Positive Drinking mantra in mind, here are the twelve spiritual lessons on spirits and the rest of the drinks world. The twelve steps that will see you through the liquid side of life.